


The Hood Of A Car Makes For Interesting Musings

by penguinpatrolerarmy



Series: The Mark and Mazz AU [6]
Category: Pump Up the Volume (1990)
Genre: Adolescent Sexuality, Asexual Character, Bisexual Character, Gen, Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, Talking, Trans Male Character, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-11 20:57:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20159995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penguinpatrolerarmy/pseuds/penguinpatrolerarmy
Summary: I'm not even gonna try to make up something poetic this is just Mark and Mazz having a full conversation for like 11 minutes straight.





	The Hood Of A Car Makes For Interesting Musings

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think there's anything triggering in this but if you think otherwise let me know.

It was a cool night in the Arizona Desert, or at least in the parts of it that surrounded sleepy Paradise Hills. Mazz Mazzilli was currently laying across the roof of his car, lazily nursing a cigarette between his fingers. Laying next to him was Mark Hunter, who was also nursing his own cigarette. Currently though, he was talking about how he'd gotten his Lizard, Reggie... In their usual manner of back and forth conversations.

"They saw I was kind of miserable so they gave me a couple hundred bucks and told me to 'buy myself a friend'. I think they thought I was gonna bring home a dog or a cat or something... But, The little guy kind of spoke to me, like we both had this same kind of vibe going. And We happened to have an old tank we used to keep fish in. So, I brought home Reggie... And anything I needed to fit the tank with. My parents were surprised but I think they've warmed up to him." Mark explained.

"I know he's warmed up to me." Mazz said with a laugh. "Alright, _your_ turn to ask _me_ something."

His friend mulled for a moment, both of them blowing smoke out into the night sky. It was calm... A well needed calm, Mazz figured.

"So is Mazz your full name or is it short for something?" Mark asked after a while. Mazz stretched his arms, folding them under his head, then gave his explaination.

"Um, it's short for 'Ignatius', actually." He said, taking another drag from his cigarette. Mark gave him a confused look.

"How do you get 'Mazz' from 'Ignatius'?" It was a genuine question, one Mazz figured he'd have to answer one day but somehow hadn't gotten to before now. He took a breath, then told the full story.

"Well, my brothers all have nicknames like that... Nazzareno and Lazzaro were a mouthful to say so people just started calling them 'Lazz' and 'Nazz'. Then, when my Parents picked up on it they made it a thing with all the boys, so _Jascopo_ became 'Jazz' and_ Dante_ became 'Dazz'; and so on... So um, When I came out, It was just something that everyone had accepted as the norm. It was gonna happen regardless of what my name was... But, I didn't wanna be called my old name while I was figuring out the new one. Our last name is _Maz__zilli _so they called me Mazz until I figured it all out, and by the time I had it just sort of stuck. So, That's how you get 'Mazz' from 'Ignatius'."

Mark seemed to think good and long about this answer, taking another drag and exhaling. "You're the ultimate '-azz' then... They all got their first names, _you_ get the family surname." He had a bit of a chuckle in his voice; a friendly one, not a demeaning one. Mazz chuckled as well.

"Y'know, I never thought of it that way..." He admitted. He took a deep drag from his cigarette, trying to think of another question to keep their banter going. "...So um, How'd you come up with your persona?"

Mark glanced over at him. "Harry? Well... I knew I wanted him to have three H's... Hubert Humphry High... Happy Harry Hard-On... It's like, a motif. And like... I wanted to make him not really like myself, so I made him a sex-manic with a loud mouth. I mean, I guess I kind of become him every night but like... It's temporary."

"Harry's more of a reflection of you than a straight copy." Mazz commented. Mark thought for a moment.

"Yeah, a reflection... A lot of stuff about us is the same, but there's still the mirror... There's still the little warped details that seperate us." He confirmed. "I mean, you've seen me in front of crowds... I couldn't talk in front of people even if I wanted. But like, When I have a microphone... When I'm alone in the dark off my room late at night, it's like there's no one there. Hell, for a long time I pretty much assumed there wasn't. The Letters had no one actually behind them for me. But... I try to remember that the people writing them are people now a days."

Mazz nodded. It was pretty understandable, given the traction his show had gotten recently... More people than ever were writing in to him now than ever, after all.

Well, it was Mark's turn... He took a moment, trying to come up with a question. The one he brought up was quite a topic, too... But, at the same time, it naturally progressed from the other ones. "What kind of people do you like?"

Mazz, at first, raised his brow. "What do you mean by that? Like, _friend_ like? or, _Like _like."

Mark looked down at his cigarette, fiddling with it more than he was smoking with it. "_Like_ Like... I guess?"

Mazz thought about it genuinely, giving it the focus it deserved. "I guess just as long as they're a decent person, I'd end up with about anyone." He explained, "I think I tend to look at guys more, just that's what was I was told was the norm for most my life. Not to mention guys are pretty nice to look at... But I wouldn't have second thoughts about spending my life with a person just because of their gender."

Mark nodded along, still looking at his cigarette. "I kind of feel that way too, but like..." He paused for a moment, seeming hesitant to give a full answer. Mazz almost reached out to pat his shoulder; but Mark hadn't given him any kind of go-ahead for that yet, and he stopped himself.

"I won't judge," He assured.

Mark took another moment, then continued his answer. "...I don't think I _want_ to have sex with someone... Like, it's not a gender thing. I just don't really have those thoughts? Which... It's weird cause I go out of my way to make Harry as sexual as possible? And I do get crushes on people but if I try to think about sex it just doesn't feel right? I dunno... I'm not sure if it's just me not meeting the right someone or like... If it's cause my brain's just different or..." He stopped again, taking another long drag.

Mazz looked up at the night sky for a minute, thinking of a response. "I don't think sex should be a major priority in any relationship." He admitted, "Like, for me it'd be _nice_ to have sex... But if my partner didn't _want_ that then I wouldn't break up with them over it. I'd be perfectly content without it as long as I was happy with them and they were happy with me."

Mark let out a sigh that he'd been holding in. "...Yeah? I hope whoever I end up with thinks that too."

"They will," Mazz assured, "Otherwise you just won't end up with them."

Mark chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I won't."

Mazz shut his eyes. "I um... It's not really the same but, I avoided sex entirely in my last two relationships. Just cause like... I'm comfortable with myself, and I've come to terms with who I am and _I'm_ fine with it. But, I feel like the rest of the world might not be. I come from a catholic family, I'm surprised they took it as well as they did. But, It's still like... A secret. We know about it, but we don't discuss it. And it's mostly for my protection but, the few people who were allowed to know-"

"-Expelled you for a dress code which wasn't suppose to adhere to you." Mark finished. It hadn't been the first time they'd discussed this particular incident... And given the injustice of it, it likely wouldn't be the last.

"Yeah." Mazz sighed, "To be fair though, Dress Codes in public school's are _fucking stupid_."

"Oh, completely. Like," Mark started listing points on his fingers, "We don't have to wear a uniform. We're not showing up to school in our bare asses with our backpacks covering our privates... Not to mention most of it only affects the girls, or those marked as such in their legal information."

"It's just reinforcing outdated gender roles."

"It's reinforcing bullshit is what it's doing."

Mazz laughed. "I smell a Harry rant coming along."

Mark smirked a smirk he only got on few occasions. "Your noes knows, my friend." He looked down at his watch. "In fact, we should probably head back now to let this rant be a reality."

Mazz rolled off the roof of his car, licking his fingers and exstinguishing his cigarette. Mark rolled off as well, brushing some ash off of his shirt. The two friends were engulfed by a chill breeze as they left their little thoughful place, and the roads to come were filled with loud music and the calls of a fake coyote.


End file.
